[3] These common names are still widely used for this and other species of corydalids, and essentially all that is known is that the earliest recorded uses appear to originate in the southern Appalachian region of the US (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia), where there were other archaic regional names and variants such as "helgamite", "hojack", "go-devil", and "grampus" (or "crampuss"), all with no definitive source or etymology.

The pile of eggs is protected by a clear fluid which dries white and is applied by the female with the tip of her abdomen.

At the tip of the abdomen there are two prolegs, each with a dorsal filament and a pair of terminal hooks which enables the larva to anchor itself in fast-flowing water.

[1] The pupae are orange in colour with dark patches on the upper side of the abdomen and are covered with minute bristles.

[9] Dobsonfly eggs are usually laid close to the water's edge on a rock or overhanging foliage and hatch at night one to two weeks later.

After one to three years and when ready to pupate, they emerge from the water and travel up to fifteen metres looking for a suitable location under a rock, log or leaf litter.

[12] Each one digs a hole in moist soil and prepares a small, smooth walled chamber, and after a prepupal stage of a few days, sheds their skin and pupates.